A Policy Framework on the Upstream Wastewater Issues of Clark Water Corporation

Abstract

Wastewater discharged into Clark Water Corporation (CWC) sewer lines is not constantly complying with the internal standards of CWC. This is a problem since the centralized wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is designed for treating domestic wastewater and is not capable of handling wastewater containing high concentration of industry pollutants. To address the recurring issue, a trade effluent policy is proposed.

The legal basis for such policies lies on the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA9275 and in the signed Customer Contract with CWC. According to these, all establishments connected to a sewerage system must secure a Discharge Permit (DP) with Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). DP applications require a certificate of interconnection (COI) from the sewerage operator.

For CWC, COI’s will only be issued for customers’ who are compliant with the company’s permissible loading limits. A charging and penalty system based on the load based variable fee of pollutants will be imposed. Having such policy will greatly aide in ensuring compliance of customer discharge. Overall customer compliance will relate to lower capital and operational expenditures (CAPEX and OPEX) for CWC since the company will not be investing intensely on outlying parameters. Customers will also benefit as lower investments will mean lower tariff increases in the future.